Steve Cockram is an inspirational communicator, serial entrepreneur, and confidante to elite leaders worldwide. He is a best-selling author, creator of the 5 Voices communication system, and co-founder of GiANT, a global leadership consultancy working in 143 countries. His latest venture is called the “Relationship Revolution.” 

We discuss:

- Why successful business people have failed relationships

- How to mend failed relationships

- How to become self-aware as an entrepreneur

- How to lead and gain influence

- Why wealth is not a powerful indicator of success

We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners. 

https://www.thefortpod.com/survey

Links:

5 Voices - https://5voices.com/  

Steve on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevejcockram/

Myers-Briggs - https://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/  

FIRO-B - https://www.themyersbriggs.com/en-US/Products-and-Services/FIRO  

GiANT - https://www.giantworldwide.com/ 

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Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:03:55) - The Importance of Relationships

(00:05:04) - Steve's Journey to Emotional Intelligence

(00:11:06) - The Impact of Self-Awareness on Relationships

(00:22:54) - The Value of Meaningful Relationships

(00:36:26) - The Entrepreneur's Dilemma: Sharing Fears and Finding Support

(00:39:00) - The Breakdown of Relationships: Communication and Trust Issues

(00:42:08) - Understanding Personality Differences in Relationships

(00:49:22) - The Five Voices: Simplifying Personality Assessments

(00:55:41) - The Importance of Humility in Leadership Communication

(01:00:41) - Mending Broken Relationships

(01:04:18) - Gaining Influence as a Leader

(01:06:24) - The True Measure of Wealth

(01:10:29) - Legacy and Purpose

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Kyle Bass is the Founder/CIO of Hayman Capital Management, L.P., an investment manager of private funds focused on global event-driven opportunities, and the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Conservation Equity Management, an impact and natural capital private equity firm. 

Kyle is also the Co-Chief Executive Officer of the newly formed Rochefort Management, a private credit firm focused on the Critical Technology Initiative – a joint effort between the Small Business Administration and the Department of Defense to attract private investment into technology areas deemed critical to national and economic security.

Mr. Bass is a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the recipient of the 2019 Foreign Policy Association Medal for his responsible internationalism. Mr. Bass has lectured on global economics, national security, geopolitics, and the architecture of the Chinese financial system at various universities. Mr. Bass is the former Chair of the Risk Committee of the Board of Directors of the University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO), which manages approximately $75 billion. 

We discuss:

- Predicting the GFC and attempting to warn Bear Stearns and the SEC of the coming collapse

- The global state of affairs: China, Taiwan, Russia, Iran and BRICS

- How the U.S. and Trump should combat China

- The rise of the U.S. Defense-Tech industry

- Why Texas is the Growth Engine for the world

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:04:03) - Introducing Kyle

(00:05:58) - Short-Selling Thesis

(00:11:45) - Predicting the GFC

(00:19:50) - Trying to warn Bear Stearns & the SEC

(00:25:39) - How to hire a contrarian

(00:29:23) - China-Taiwan

(00:33:34) - How Trump can have a successful presidency concerning China

(00:44:17) - Iran

(00:46:34) - Why some wealthy Americans are pro-China

(00:49:32) - The Chinese land grab in America

(00:52:41) - Texas: The growth engine of the world

(00:58:47) - The Defense-Tech Industry in America

(01:02:03) - What Kyle will invest in

(01:05:19) - The Texas migration and influence

(01:09:23) - What do you want to be known for?

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Morgan’s books have sold over seven million copies and have been translated into more than 60 languages.

He is a two-time winner of the Best in Business Award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and winner of the New York Times Sidney Award. MarketWatch named him one of the 50 most influential people in markets. He's a partner at The Collaborative Fund and serves on the board of directors at Markel. 

We discuss:

- Human Psychology and Risk

- Tribalism, Anger & Humor

- Investing Philosophies

- Writing and Book Publishing Lessons

- The Drive of Successful Entrepreneurs

- Balancing Wealth and Happiness

We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners. 

https://www.thefortpod.com/survey

Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:41) - Lessons from a Skiing Tragedy

(00:05:51) - The Impact of Personal Experiences on Risk Tolerance

(00:08:18) - The Tribal Nature of Human Behavior

(00:14:42) - The Role of Anger and Humor in Online Interactions

(00:20:16) - Behavior vs. Knowledge in Investing

(00:39:44) - The Halo Effect and Perception

(00:40:55) - Warren Buffett's Personal Sacrifices

(00:42:05) - The Cost of Professional Success

(00:43:36) - Balancing Personal and Professional Life

(00:45:37) - The Complexity of Wealth

(01:02:53) - Teaching Kids About Money

(01:13:54) - The End of History Illusion

(01:15:35) - Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Links:

Morgan on X - https://x.com/morganhousel

The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel - https://bit.ly/4gwuu6T

Same as Ever by Morgan Housel - https://bit.ly/4jS5ry4\

Collaborative Fund - https://collabfund.com/

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Chris on Social Media:

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The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Kevin Lavelle is the CEO & Cofounder of Harbor. He’s also the Founder and Chairman of the Board at Mizzen+Main, where he invented the world’s first performance fabric dress shirt, ultimately driving it to hundreds of millions of dollars in sales.

He successfully raised a growth round from L Catterton and established partnerships with athletes like Phil Mickelson, JJ Watt, and dozens of others. Today, Mizzen+Main has more than ten of its own stores with 1,000 retailers also carrying its products.

We discuss:

- Starting and growing Mizzen+Main

- The intricacies of celebrity-equity deals

- The inspiration for founding Harbor

- The realities of building physical products vs. software

- Stories with Phil Mickelson and J.J. Watt

We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners. 

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Links:

Mizzen+Main - https://www.mizzenandmain.com/

Harbor - https://harbor.co/

Kevin on X - https://x.com/kevinslavelle

The Phil Mickelson Commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45xF1C76I88

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Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:03:49) - Kevin’s early career and inspiration to found Mizzen+Main

(00:07:25) - Building the prototype

(00:11:38) - The early days of building the brand

(00:15:16) - The impact of sponsoring the Tim Ferriss Podcast (x)

(00:21:35) - Choosing the name “Mizzen+Main”

(00:23:50) - Inventory Management 

(00:26:55) - Starting today, what would be your hiring order?

(00:28:32) - Celebrity partnership stories: J.J. Watt & Phil Mickelson

(00:48:17) - The inspiration for founding Harbor

(01:03:17) - Bringing on a Co-Founder and building hardware

(01:17:19) - Marketing approaches

(01:14:56) - How celebrity equity deals work

Chris on Social Media:

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The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Jesse is a founder who bootstrapped and scaled Employer.com, Recruiter.com, Before You Apply, and BountyJobs.com into a $500M+ HR Tech powerhouse. He built these brands by solving global problems in EOR, payroll, hiring, and workforce management for companies of all sizes.

Most recently, Jesse has gone viral for his public bid to acquire TikTok, alongside some of the most influential names on the internet. He also recently acquired Bench within 48 hours of its announced shutdown and was able to keep the company online for the bookkeeping needs of its thousands of users. 

We discuss:

- Acquiring Bench via X

- How Jesse structures his acquisitions and organization

- The People’s Bid for TikTok

We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners. 

https://www.thefortpod.com/survey

Links:

Jesse on X - https://x.com/JesseTinsley

Bench.co - https://www.bench.co/

Employer.com - https://www.employer.com/

Support our Sponsors

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Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:03:13) - Acquiring Bench

(00:21:29) - Jesse’s background

(00:24:10) - Talent Density

(00:25:57) - Acquisitions and integrations

(00:27:55) - Building an ops playbook

(00:31:46) - Setting annual goals

(00:33:45) - What makes a great VC Partner?

(00:36:22) - What kind of acquisitions do you pursue?

(00:40:50) - Making the bid for TikTok

(00:52:42) - What entrepreneurs do you admire?

Chris on Social Media:

The Fort Podcast on Twitter/X: https://x.com/theFORTpodcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefortpodcast

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Watch The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX

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The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Krish is the Founder and CEO of Angry Gods, a strategy and creative consultancy. He has been involved in some of the most iconic brand stories of the past two decades, including the launch of the iMac, the resurrection of Adidas Originals, the explosion of Vitaminwater, American Express, and the rebrand of Virgin Galactic. 

As a partner at Culture, a next-generation venture incubator, Krish helps the world’s most popular influencers and personalities build efficient business empires from their passion and reach. 

Krish recently co-founded Alter, where they believe the coaching, health innovations, and technology available only to professional athletes and the 1% should be accessible to all.

We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners. 

https://www.thefortpod.com/survey

Topics

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:03:39) - What is a brand?

(00:08:22) - What happens in our brains when we react to a brand?

(00:15:34) - Influencer marketing fragility

(00:17:21) - Where do people get branding wrong?

(00:21:14) - Who should weigh in on brand design?

(00:25:18) - The 1-9-90 concept

(00:28:37) - Elon vs. Buffet

(00:31:30) - CEO Branding + Mark Zuckerberg

(00:38:08) - What does working with you look like?

(00:42:26) - Everything is solvable

(00:44:27) - Where does the most waste happen in the process?

(00:45:59) - AI

(00:47:21) - The Gift Registry

(00:51:27) - Vitamin Water

(00:53:05) - Amazon

(00:54:26) - Rebranding Mr. Cooper

(00:59:13) - Familiar is Failure

(01:01:16) - Revelations, not observations

(01:05:23) - actions, not ads

Links

Krish on X - https://x.com/krishmenon

Angry Gods - https://www.angrygods.com/

Naming Norman on Chat GPT

Wisdm on IG - https://www.instagram.com/wisdm/

Zachirific on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@zachirific

Support our Sponsors

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The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Fernando is the Founder and CEO of Leon Capital Group, a diversified holding company that operates assets in the real estate, financial services, healthcare, and technology industries. Leon takes the lead in conceiving, developing, owning, and operating businesses through a family-holding structure that oversees $10 billion of its own private assets.

We discuss:

We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners. 

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Links

Leon Capital Group

Fernando on LinkedIn

Topics

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:03:51) - Fernando’s career and background

(00:13:28) - The impact of Harvard

(00:19:48) - Lessons from Goldman Sachs - The Supply Chain of Money

(00:28:07) - Building credibility in a new city

(00:31:23) - Experiences in the GFC

(00:35:47) - Single Tenant Retail

(0:39:49) - Building out a team

(00:41:41) - Developing a formal growth strategy

(00:43:57) - Partnering with Ross Perot

(00:46:56) - The Healthcare thesis

(00:56:17) - How do you decide what industries to buy into?

(00:58:49) - Buying Crexi

(01:02:34) - What’s your plan for the next decade?

(01:04:33) - Investment Management

(01:07:36) - The state of the market

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Pete is the founder and chairman of Capital III, an impact investment company with investments in the US and Central America. Enterprise Stewardship is an initiative of Capital III that equips marketplace leaders with resources to transform their personal LIFE and business enterprises. During his four decades in business, he has invested in and operated companies in the energy, manufacturing, banking, and education sectors, often focusing on places devoid of human flourishing such as prisons and poverty-stricken countries. Pete’s passion is to educate, equip, and empower business leaders worldwide to live for something greater than themselves. 

We discuss:

We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners. 

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Links

Enterprise Stewardship

Capital III

More on Pete Ochs

Pete on LinkedIn

Topics

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:03:46) - Pete’s background and career

(00:07:55) - Moving a business into a maximum security prison

(00:22:14) - How did interacting with these prisoners change your belief set?

(00:25:04) - Social & Spiritual Capital

(00:27:49) - The importance of generosity

(00:29:27) - How can you implement this mental model to an existing company?

(00:34:37) - What does your work with other companies look like?

(00:37:26) - How can a company discover its purpose?

(00:39:50) - Being a steward of a business instead of an owner

(00:51:30) - Purpose Trusts

(00:59:13) - What are some tangible steps folks can take to implement these ideas?

(01:02:13) - How long will it take for these changes to materialize?

(01:03:37) - The Tattoo Redemption story

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The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Jack Fraker is President and Global Head of Industrial & Logistics Capital Markets for Newmark. He is responsible for driving Newmark’s industrial & logistics business, primarily capital markets but also leasing.

Jack has personally completed over 1,800 industrial & logistics capital markets transactions totaling 1.5 billion square feet | $85 billion in more than 60 U.S. cities, Mexico, Europe, Japan, and South America. He has also advised on approximately 12,000 acres of development sites and over 300 office/industrial leasing assignments. As a partner with other firms prior to Newmark, Jack was cumulatively involved in over 3.3 billion square feet | $220 billion in various projects.

We discuss:

We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners. 

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Links

Newmark

Jack Fraker on LinkedIn

Topics

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:04:21) - Nokia ’94-’00

(00:11:20) - “Inventing” investment sales in the industrial world 

(00:17:20) - How is industrial positioned globally?

(00:20:56) - How is America viewed globally regarding industrial?

(00:23:37) - Is it harder to close deals with foreign investors vs. domestic ones?

(00:25:39) - What have you experienced in the market in the last 2 years?

(00:32:52) - What does a good spec developer look like and what does a bad one look like?

(00:38:28) - The pressure of AI on rents

(00:39:54) - Mexico

(00:41:57) - What does the future of Industrial look like for Texas?

(00:44:38 - Development, leasing, sales, and TI

(00:50:36) - What data do you pay attention to most when thinking about the industry?

(00:53:19) - Retail-to-industrial

(00:54:25) - Technology trends

(00:57:51) - How do multi-billion dollar deals get done?

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Chris on Social Media:

The Fort Podcast on Twitter/X: https://x.com/theFORTpodcast

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The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

Paul Renner is a former Commander in the U.S. Navy, and was deployed in Operation Desert Storm as well as Afghanistan.  

We discuss:

We'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners. 

https://www.thefortpod.com/survey

Topics

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:03:02) - How losing an election led to becoming speaker of the house of Florida

(00:04:30) - Reclaiming American Institutions

(00:10:57) - The uni party

(00:13:23) - The state of the Military

(00:16:42) - Ukraine and North Carolina

(00:20:05) - The military-industrial complex

(00:22:13) - China

(00:27:39) - Iran

(00:29:56) - Russia

(00:31:13) - Immigration

(00:33:29) - Is it possible to be a true public servant?

(00:36:08) - How much impact can you have with term limits?

(00:42:11) - Working with Ron DeSantis

(00:45:32) - Disney

(00:52:43) - Voter ID

(00:56:32) - Property Insurance & Florida RE

(00:59:57) - The Future of America

(01:06:40) - What can the average person do?

Support our Sponsors

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Chris on Social Media:

The Fort Podcast on Twitter/X: https://x.com/theFORTpodcast

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Watch The Fort on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX

Visit our website: https://bit.ly/43SOvys

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The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts